In the Shadows
by WandadnaW
Summary: Was it an accident or something more sinister?  The answer lies ... in the shadows.
1. Chapter 1

**In the Shadows**

He heard what sounded like voices but could not make out the words. Everything seemed so far away. He seemed to be there and not to be there, wherever there was, at the same time. So, he waited, he listened, and he tried to orient himself. However, everything seemed to drift off again and then he knew no more. This seemed to happen again and again but he did not know how many times. He just seemed to drift but something in the sway, the hum, or the general feel of his surroundings made him feel safe, safe enough to let go and drift.

The voices seemed to return but this time they seemed very loud and he felt hot. The heat seemed to be all around him and to radiate through him. He was more aware of his body this time and all he could feel was pain and heat. His head ached, pain radiated through his shoulder, and his back throbbed. He tried to understand the voices and to open his eyes to find out where he was but he did not have the energy. He felt as if someone were pushing him underwater - he could not breathe and he could not move.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Doc, how is he? Has he come to yet?" Chip's concern could be easily read on his face which normally wore a mask of impassivity. His eyes meet the doctor's eyes and then moved to the bunk at the far corner of the sickbay where his friend and captain lay unconscious. Seeing the Admiral sitting by the bunk, he looked back at the doctor. "How long has the Admiral been there?"

"Actually, he never left."

"What? But Lee's been here for three days."

"I tried to get him to leave but he refused. Lee has been restless on and off and the presence of the Admiral seems to quiet him. The Admiral speaks to him every time he seems to begin to regain consciousness but then Lee drifts off again. Unfortunately, the infection in the shoulder wound has worsened and his fever has spiked. Unless I can get this infection under control …" The doctor's voice trailed off, the implications clear to both of them.

"Let me see if I can get the Admiral to leave for a while to rest while I sit with Lee."

"Shouldn't you be resting? You have been overseeing the repairs and I know that your watch just ended. You must be tired."

"Tired, yes, but I am too wired and too worried to sleep." He paused rubbing his eyes. "Don't even start." He said as he held up is hand and shook his head in an effort to stop the look of concern and the protests that he knew would follow. "I need to be here. The Admiral needs some rest and I can take over the watch and sit with Lee. You said yourself that Lee is less restless with the Admiral sitting by him. Lee always seems to know when one of us is with him." He paused, smiled slightly, and then continued, "You know how much he hates being in sickbay, and even you would rather be yelling at him for his trying to sneak out of here than have him unconscious and feverish."

The older man looked at him, removed the stethoscope from around his neck and motioned Chip to follow him as he began to walk slowly toward his patient in the far bunk. "Fine, you win, for now." He seemed to put some emphasis on the end of the statement. "You can take over for the Admiral after I do my vitals check and put a new dressing on the shoulder wound. While I am busy, why don't you convince the Admiral to go rest in his cabin? Then you can come back and sit with Lee."

"Thanks, Doc," he whispered as they stopped by the Admiral's chair. "Sir?" Getting no response, he tried again. "Admiral Nelson?" He paused as the Admiral turned his head toward Chip and the doctor, taking his eyes off Lee to look at them.

"Admiral, I need to attend my patient and you need some rest". Knowing the protest that was to come next, he continued, "You have been here since Lee was brought in and before that on the dock when he was injured. You need some rest and I need to tend to Lee. Chip will escort you to your cabin and then return to stay with Lee."

"If I had not been out there on the dock, this never would have happened. I should have left the loading of the equipment to the Chief but I was just so anxious to get started." He trailed off, looking again at the injured man lying on the bunk. "He saved me, pushed me out of the way, made sure that I was safe. Look at what it has cost him." He paused and then continued, "He is worse now. His fever is higher, he is having more trouble breathing again, and …" His voice caught in his throat and he stopped.

Hearing this, the doctor's concern for his patient intensified. He needed to get the Admiral out of there so that he could get to work. Chip seemed to sense the doctor's increased concern for his patient.

"Admiral, this was not your fault. The equipment shifted in the crate - it was not even packed correctly. If anyone is to blame, it would be the company that packed it and sent it."

"That is all well and good but I was out there, and if I had not been there then Lee would not have had to put himself in harm's way - this never would have happened." The pain and guilt that he felt at the injury to his friend could be read in his expression and was mirrored in his deep blue eyes.

"Come on, Admiral, let the doctor do his work. You need some rest and I want to spend some time sitting with Lee. He would not want you to feel guilty. You know that he would rather it be him than you. While neither of us may like it, that is just the way he is." Chip paused, putting his hand on the other man's shoulder, his eyes pleading with him. "Lee would not want you to make yourself sick and Doc needs some space."

For a moment, he thought that the Admiral was going to yell at him or push him away but the fire that had momentarily lit the older man's eyes left, he looked again at the dark-haired younger man lying on bunk, and slowly rose from the chair. He paused, putting his hand on the uninjured shoulder and then brushed several damp curls off the feverish man's forehead, and whispered, "I'll be back, son. You will not be alone." Turning to meet the doctor's eyes, he paused momentarily, "Will, take care of him." Turning to Chip, he seemed to deflate momentarily, "Come on, Mr. Morton, you may complete your assignment for the good doctor before you return."

"Chip, would you tell Frank to join me? Ask him to bring in the cart I have prepared in the back."

Chip paused, not wanting to leave, and then nodded to the doctor. The Admiral continued out the sickbay door as Chip walked into the back office to convey the request to the physician's assistant and then he too left the sickbay.

With the Admiral and Chip leaving the sickbay, the doctor checked Lee's pulse rate. As he put on his stethoscope, he noted the paleness of Lee's skin. Listening to the breath sounds, the look of concern on his face intensified as he noted a slight bluishness to his skin. Tapping lightly on Crane's chest as he listened to the chest sounds, the doctor shouted, "Frank, his lung has collapsed again!" Frank rapidly wheeled the cart toward the doctor, ready to assist him as the doctor tried to help the injured man.

"Doc, do you want 100 percent oxygen?"

"No, I cannot take a chance. Although that worked last time, he is weak from injury and the fever. I'm going to put in a chest tube."

"Doc, are we going to move him to surgery?"

"No, we cannot delay. Moving him and then prepping him for surgery will take too long - we cannot take the chance. We will just have to insert the chest tube here and hope that performing the procedure will not complicate his condition further."

The look on the doctor's face told him that this was serious and that the man on the bunk was in great distress. Frank began to remove the various items that the doctor would need from the cart. Dr. Jamieson had anticipated the possibility that the lung might collapse again due to the trauma of the Captain's injuries and he had made sure that they would be prepared. The Skipper was going to hate this when he came to - the Skipper hated chest tubes almost as much as he hated catheters and the ventilator. Working as one, each sent a silent prayer toward Heaven for the skill to help as well as for the recovery of their friend and Captain.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After having escorted the Admiral to his cabin, Chip walked through the control room to check on the status of the boat before returning to sickbay, knowing that the doctor would need the time. He would take good care of Seaview and return her safely to her Captain once he was able to assume command again. The men on duty were mindful of their stations but he knew that each was concerned for their Captain. He made sure that his mask of efficiency was in place upon his face in an effort to convey confidence that all would be right about the boat once again.


	2. Chapter 2

**In the Shadows**

Chip paused momentarily before walking slowly to the chart table to check the logs. He spoke briefly with Lieutenant O'Brien who had just started his watch, reviewing the updated information on the repairs and checking on the status of the flying sub in case Dr. Jamieson decided to send the Captain back to the N.I.M.R. medical facility or to a nearby hospital. Although Jamieson had considered the possibility when the Captain had been injured, the Captain's condition had been too unstable to risk moving him.

As he finished reviewing the information about the status of the Seaview, Chief Sharkey entered the Control Room and made his way to stand by the Executive Officer.

Sharkey paused before he began to speak. "Mr. Morton, how's the Skipper doing? Has he regained consciousness yet?"

Morton noted the hopeful air in the man's questions. "The Captain's condition has not improved. Doc is changing his bandages and checking on him now."

"Is the Admiral still down in the Sickbay with him?"

"No, Dock finally convinced him to get some sleep. I walked with him to his cabin before I came up here." Morton noted the relief in the Chief's eyes. Sharkey, like most of the crew, knew of the close friendship among the commanding officers, that between the Admiral and the Captain being more like father and son than just friends. "The Admiral is exhausted," he continued, "and he is blaming himself for the Captain's injuries. He seemed to fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. I am going to check on him before I return to Sickbay to sit with the Captain."

"Would you like me to check on the Admiral later?" Sharkey asked.

"It would help me a lot if you would keep an eye on the Admiral. Make sure that he eats once he wakes up and update him on the boat's status." Morton paused before changing the subject to the status of the boat. "Have you been able to determine what happened? Even with the equipment improperly packed within the crate, the harbor crane should have been able to lower the crate into the hold without incident."

"We checked the operation of the harbor crane but we could not reproduce the malfunction. It seems to have been a fluke. No one out on deck or in the hold saw anything unusual, and we still do not know what alerted the Captain to danger." Sharkey still marveled at the Skipper's fast action in saving the Admiral from what would have been certain death. "We interviewed the crane operator and his crew but they did not notice any problems. The crane itself is relatively new and there have not been any similar incidents on the dock. The forklift operator that helped to move the crate to the crane did not notice anything out of the ordinary either. We thoroughly examined the damaged crate, the packing materials, and the damaged equipment but we did not find anything unusual there either. Although the dock supervisor would not let us keep the crate, packing materials or the equipment, we were able to take pictures of the wreckage and to get a copy of the dock surveillance tape. The dock supervisor said that he needed to store the damaged crate, packing materials, and the equipment for the OSHA investigation."

Morton was disappointed that they had not been able to determine what had happened to cause the loading accident before they had left the harbor. The interviews with the dock's OSHA officer had delayed their departure, something that had troubled the Exec in light of the doctor's refusal to have his injured friend transported to the nearby hospital. While he understood his and the Seaview's obligation to the Navy to deliver the needed stores and equipment to the research lab, he would have preferred to stay in the harbor until his friend's condition had stabilized. However, as always, he had to do his duty, to meet his responsibilities – the Admiral would expect it and so would Lee. Duty and responsibility – right now, he had had enough of duty and responsibility! His breath seemed to catch in his throat for a moment. He raised his eyes from the dock report that he had been examining while the Chief spoke, and then he met the eyes of his subordinate, his face expressionless once more.

"Have Patterson copy the surveillance tape to DVD and print copies of the pictures of the wreckage. I want to examine them. There has to be something that we are missing. It just makes no sense."

"I will have Patterson deliver the DVD and the pictures to your cabin so that you can examine them after you rest, Sir."

"Patterson can put the DVD in my cabin but I want him to deliver the pictures to me in Sickbay."

"Sir, shouldn't you get some rest?", Sharkey's concern for the Exec evident in his voice.

"I'm too wired right now to sleep. I thought that I would walk through the boat and then sit with the Skipper for a while."

"The Skipper will be glad to know that you are keeping an eye on her in his absence," Sharkey quipped.

"What?" the Exec inquired, a look of puzzlement on his face.

"The Seaview, Sir. You know how the Skipper checks her every night before he goes to sleep. Your walking through the boat will be an encouragement to the crew that Skipper will be all right too. She'll be better too."

"You are as bad as the Skipper, do you know that Chief?" Somehow the Chief's comment eased some of the tension that he was feeling at that moment. Yes, Lee would like to know that he was taking care of his Gray Lady.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His walk through the Seaview had taken longer than he had wanted. He checked each section carefully, speaking with the man in charge in each section. On his way, he stopped by the hold where the accident had occurred. He noticed that everything - the blood, at the time there seemed to be so much blood - had been cleaned up and that all the stores and equipment had been carefully secured. The image of his friend's limp, bleeding form being moved to a stretcher after being freed from the debris flashed through his mind, causing him to shudder. He toured the area, checking the nets and ropes that secured the crates and packages before leaving to complete his tour of the boat. Completing his check of the Seaview, he stopped in his cabin to shower and to change his uniform, knowing that he would not want to do it before starting his watch. He noted the DVD lying on his desk and he knew that Patterson would have left the pictures for him in Sickbay as he had asked. The quick shower helped to ease some of the tension brought on by his visit to the hold. Now all he needed was some good news from the doctor.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morton entered the Sickbay and walked toward the Captain's bunk at the back of the room. He examined his friend carefully, noting the paleness of his skin, the new bandages, the presence of the IV and collection bag for the Foley catheter as well as the new collection bag for the chest tube. Lee was going to hate this – the Foley was bad enough but to have the chest tube too… Instead of sitting in the chair that was positioned by the bunk, he turned and quickly walked to the Doctor's office at the back of the Sickbay. As he approached, Dr. Jamieson looked up from the notes that he was writing on the forms in the folder on his desk. Their eyes met, the doctor noting the concern on Chip's face.

"His lung collapsed again and I had to put in a chest tube. He is stable for now. I believe that the chest tube will take care of the problem with the collapsed lung. I put him on a stronger antibiotic and, hopefully, that will help with the infection."

"How long was he in surgery?" Chip inquired.

"I could not take a chance on moving him. So," he paused momentarily before he completed his statement, "there was no surgery." He waited for the explosion of concern that he knew would follow.

"Isn't that dangerous in light of the infection that he already has?" Hearing a moan, Chip looked over his shoulder at his friend at the back of the Sickbay.

Jamieson rose from his chair and moved from his office to his patient, followed closely by the very concerned Exec. "If I had taken the time to prep him and move him for surgery he would not have survived – he was in respiratory distress. While I was and still am concerned about the infection, the chest tube had to be inserted immediately – there was no other option."

This said, the doctor checked his patient – bandages still clean, chest tube in place with no bleeding around it, an appropriate amount of drainage in the chest tube's collection bag, and breathing not labored. "So far so good", he commented to himself. He removed his stethoscope from around his neck, fitting the eartips in place in his ears, and positioned the diaphragm of the chestpiece on Lee's chest, listening intently. Morton noted the small nod of the doctor's head as he moved the chestpiece of the stethoscope to various positions on Lee's chest and then removed the eartips from his ears, letting the eartubes come to rest around his neck. Next, he removed the ear thermometer from the pocket of his lab coat, turned it on, positioned the probe in Lee's ear. At the beep, he removed the thermometer's probe from his friend's ear and held the thermometer to read the display. This done, he looked at Morton.

"Lee's breath sounds are good, I do not hear any congestion in his lungs, his temperature is not any higher, and he appears to be resting." Jamieson gave what appeared to be a sigh of relief before he continued. "This is a good sign. At least he is no worse and he is able to breath." He paused and put his hand on Morton's shoulder. "Sit with him and talk to him. Let him know that he is safe and remind him to fight." He almost steered Morton into the chair by the bunk. "I'll bring you some coffee and the envelope that Patterson left for you.

Morton nodded. "Thanks, Doc."

"I'm going to have some food brought down here for you and I expect you to eat it." Noting the Exec straightening in his chair as well as the movement of his lips as he was about to speak, Jamieson continued "And, if you know what's good for you, you will eat all of it – otherwise, you will not be seeing the Captain after you rest at the end of your watch."

Morton prepared to complain but noted the glare in the doctor's eyes and the change in his stance. "All right, you win on the food but I will check on the Captain at the end of my watch before I rest."

Knowing that the Exec would rest better after checking on his friend, the doctor relented, "Fine, you can check on Lee at the end of your watch but you are not staying – you will rest for at least eight hours."

"One battle at a time," Chip thought to himself before nodding to the doctor. Chip turned toward his friend again and sat back in the chair.

The doctor moved back to his office, where he used the wall microphone to call the mess hall, requesting a dinner tray to be sent to the Sickbay for the Exec. Then, he poured a cup of coffee and picked up an envelope and brought them to Morton. "The tray will be here shortly. Remember, you are to eat it all."

Morton turned to look at the doctor, nodded his head slowly and grimly smiled. "Fine," he said, taking the coffee and the envelope. Before turning back toward the Captain, he said, "Thanks, Doc."

Jamieson momentarily put his hand on Morton's shoulder in support and encouragement before turning to move back to his office.

Morton watched his friend for several minutes, listening as he breathed, noting that his breathing no longer sounded labored. Lee was still pale but the improvement in his breathing was an encouraging sign. "Lee, I'm here. Doc and I got the Admiral to rest for a while." He put his hand on Lee's arm. "I checked the boat – the damage to the hull and the hold has been repaired - she's all right. Now you need to get better so that you can check her out for yourself." He sat there speaking calmly to his friend, encouraging him to rest, to fight, and to recuperate, occasionally sipping the coffee that the doctor had given him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morton stayed there, sitting with and speaking softly to his friend for the hours until he had to assume the watch. Jamieson eyed Morton every time he did his vitals and bandage check on the Captain. He was pleased to note that the Exec had eaten most of the food that had been sent from the mess hall. "Well, at least I will not have to fight him on that," the doctor thought to himself. "Now all I have to do is get him to rest for a while after his watch – he should be too exhausted to argue by then," he grinned to himself.

"How's he doing, Doc?" Morton asked.

The older man remained silent while he completed his check and then turned toward Morton.


End file.
